Beware getting off your Facebook

By Sarah Whyte

THINK twice before uploading another photo or status update if you are about to have a job interview – employers are watching you.

In an age of oversharing online, with a third of the Australian population on Facebook, many recruiters and companies cannot resist the temptation to screen potential candidates via social media.

Overexposed ... your friends may get a laugh out of your Facebook pics but potential employers might not be quite so impressed.

US employers have taken screening one step further, asking some job candidates to log in to their Facebook pages during the interview. There is no sign of this happening in Australia, recruiters say.

But employers were interested in looking beyond a person's resumé, said Kate Kendall, who specialises in recruitment via social media. "Companies are more interested in a holistic view of who they are hiring," she said. "You can't really try to hide."

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Ms Kendall said she had conducted an hour-long internet search on an IT position candidate and discovered a Twitter reference to him smoking marijuana.

One recruiter, Linda Enever, said while some job seekers were becoming more savvy about their online activities, others were oblivious to possible consequences.

When one potential candidate added Ms Enever to his Facebook friends after discussing a sales position, she opened his page to find a newly updated status divulging his plans to "chuck a sickie" on the Monday to recover from a "big night" at the weekend.

A national survey by information management company WorkPro found only 4 per cent of respondents felt comfortable with employers conducting internet searches on prospective employees. It also found 54 per cent had never changed their Facebook profile with their employer in mind.

Photos can be perceived in different lights depending on the industry. "If a marketing company can see the candidate has fun shots and is sharing links and websites via their Facebook page then they are perceived to already have a natural marketing skill set," Ms Enever said.

The Sun-Herald was told of an intern at a public relations company who was Facebook-screened, and given the tick. "Party pictures were seen as a good thing and something that suited [the] company," an employee said.

Entertainment group Art4Play recruits only good- looking people for their hens' night services. "We hire attractive guys, who we will stalk through Facebook through a mutual friend or recommendation," owner Cascie Wills said. "You generally get a pretty good idea of what they get up to via their page.

"I have come across some horrendous stuff such as compromising photos, illicit drug taking and illegal behaviour. If we see that, we won't hire them."

Social media strategist Laurel Papworth said employees were carefully scrutinising companies, too, to see if they agreed with their values.